On November 3, 2016, Métis students at Algonquin College attended the annual Métis Feast hosted by the college’s Mamidosewin Centre. The centre, which aims to support and empower Indigenous students through a variety of cultural programs and services, hosts a different feast on the first Thursday of every month. There is always a great turnout with around 50-60 students.

With the sounds of fiddle music playing in the background, students were welcomed by the scent of a home-cooked meal prepared by Elena Abel, Algonquin College Aboriginal Program Coordinator. The feast consisted of stew, beans, and baked bannock.

As a special treat, Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) Honourary Senator Reta Gordon brought in a pot of her homemade hamburger soup―also known as poor man’s soup. The recipe can be found in the MNO Métis Cookbook and Guide to Healthy Living: 2nd Edition and was submitted by the late Earl Scofield who was a MNO veteran and former MNO Senator.

The Métis Feast will be featured on an upcoming CBC Radio segment called D is for Dinner―a featurette on the daily drive-home show All in a Day. Host Alan Neal interviewed staff and students about the connection to food as culture.

“We try to be a home-away-from-home for our students,” says Abel, who has worked at Mamidosewin Centre since 2010. “By providing a hot, home-cooked meal, students can connect with each other and our services, and in this way we address some of the homesickness students might feel.”